Dante's POV There’s always a moment… a single moment when you realize you’ve crossed an invisible line that changed things on a major scale.Sometimes, it’s a word you didn’t mean to say.Other times, it’s a look you didn’t mean to give.For me, it happened the night Tanya told me about the rejection.It was late, and the training yard was empty.The torches along the perimeter burned low, casting a soft gold light over the packed dirt. Tanya was still there, working through footwork drills long after everyone else had gone. Her movements were slower than usual, more deliberate.“You’re going to wear a hole in the ground,” I said, leaning on the fence.She glanced over her shoulder, a faint smile on her lips. “Better the ground than my skull.”I stepped into the light. “What are you still doing out here by this time? You're supposed to be resting your body for tomorrow's training.”“ I'm just trying to get it right.” She switched to her other feet, her shadow cutting across the dim l
Dante's POV There are things Tanya doesn't pause to notice.She doesn’t see the way the other warriors pause sometimes when she walks into the training ground…not out of disrespect, but because they are still trying to figure her out.She doesn’t see how the younger trainees watch her like they’re trying to decide if she’s someone worth emulating.And she certainly doesn’t see me, standing a little too long at the edge of the field, trying not to be too obvious while watching her work.Or maybe she does, and she’s too polite to mention it.It’s not like I plan to watch her. My schedule is full enough without hovering over a new recruit. But somehow my steps always make sure I walk past the training yard even if I have nothing to do there whenever I know she’s there. If I’m honest, it’s not even to correct her form anymore. I just… want to see how she’s doing.She’s developing habits. Little things that catch my attention.When she’s focused, she usually tucks her hair behind her righ
Dante's POV The first time I saw Tanya in the training yard, I thought she looked so small and breakable.Not fragile like glass… glass shatters quickly. She looked like something thin and withering under pressure from years of facing storms alone, but still somehow standing. A tree whose bark had been stripped, yet refused to fall.She was awkward in her stance, shoulders hunched slightly as if expecting a blow from any direction, especially from my pack members. Her hands curled into loose fists that didn’t yet know how to strike. She flinched when Holt corrected her form. And yet… she never stopped trying.That was what made me pause.Most outsiders that wandered or were brought into Crimson territory never lasted a day even on the off chance that Tion gave them a choice to fight, much less a week. And certainly not someone like her… someone from a cushioned Alpha’s house who’d been cast aside like spoiled meat. I’d seen that story before. It didn’t end well.But Tanya wasn’t fold
A few weeks earlier. Tanya’s POV The first time they sent me beyond the pack boundaries, it wasn’t alone. I've noticed I always somehow have a pack member close by, most likely watching my every move and reporting back to Tion. Dante walked ahead, silent as always while cutting through the dense woods like the earth bent itself around his boots. Behind us, two wolves I barely knew — Ulric and Sera — followed at a distance, their glances sharp as teeth but not hostile anymore. Curious, maybe. Wary. Watching to see if I’d falter. I didn’t plan to give them the satisfaction. Tion’s orders had been simple: scout the old boundary trails, mark any signs of trespass, report back. But simple never meant safe. Especially not this close to rogue territory. “You’ll keep up,” Dante said without looking back. I did. We moved swift beneath twilight’s breath. No torches. No words. Only scent and instinct guiding us through the twisted trees and tangled roots where whispers said wolve
Tanya’s POV The bruises faded slower than the stares. Days had passed since the pit fight, but the other pack members still watched me as if waiting for more proof I’d earned the place Tion had given although his expression said it was a bit grudgingly. Respect wasn’t granted with one victory. Not here. Here, respect bled from skin to dirt, earned inch by painful inch. Still, something had shifted. No more sneers. No more spit in my food or sharp “innocent” elbows at my side while they passed. Now, Garrick trained opposite me without protest, though his glare burned hotter than any wound he’d given. Sera didn’t smile when she knocked me down — not because she’d softened, but because cruelty wasted breath now. I was no longer easy prey. That made me… something else. Not pack yet. Not kin either. Not one of them. But seen. Dante watched me closer, too. Not just as Beta. As… what? A wary ally? A teacher who hadn’t expected the student to last this long? But I couldn't decide
Tanya's POV They woke me up before dawn.No words,no explanations. Just Garrick’s hand wrenching me upright by the collar of my borrowed shirt, and hauling me from the thin mattress into the chill of pre-morning dark. I didn’t bother to ask where we were going. I knew better than to speak.The other pack members waited outside. Sera, Ulric and three more whose names I hadn’t learned because they hadn’t deemed me worthy of a conversation. Dante stood apart from the rest, arms crossed with his jaw set in something close to warning.Beyond them, Tion stood.His wolf form loomed larger in the semi darkness than it had in my memory. Black as shadow with eyes that looked like molten gold. He shifted slowly, bones cracking, skin splitting and reshaping until the man stood where the beast had been.He didn’t bother dressing fully. Only loose fitting pants,his bare chest streaked with scars both old and new. The mark of an Alpha who bled as often as he commanded.“This is your moment, little